


Times are hard for dreamers

by maanorchidee



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Dreams, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 19:53:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15202262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maanorchidee/pseuds/maanorchidee
Summary: Jack and Bitty live in a world where you meet your soulmate through shared dreams. Only one thing: they live in a time before this is known. Both of them are very interested in the boy they see in their dreams.





	Times are hard for dreamers

**Author's Note:**

> Woah. Hi. This originally started as my [Zimbits July Update part](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fseries%2F695706&t=NWYzMzhhMzU0MTMyMzE1OGY2OGRkNThhYjNmNWFjYWU1NWYwYTVmMyxNUVFja1JNZQ%3D%3D&b=t%3A1_FbMVvKlyXyfeQlKE-AmQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fforabeatofadrum.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175646694843%2Ftimes-are-hard-for-dreamers), but after I wrote a couple of thousand words I realised I wanted this to be a standalone. The original prompt was dream, so I came up with a soulmate AU. 
> 
> Title from Amelie the musical, which is ironic, because I have a headcanon that Jack really likes that one.

_They say times are hard for dreamers_  
_And who knows, maybe they are_  
_People seem stuck, or lost at sea!_  
_And I might be a dreamer_  
_But it’s gotten me this far_  
_And that is far enough for me_

* * *

No one really knows when it started. Suddenly, people started meeting others in their dreams.

* * *

For Eric, it starts when he is five years old. He dreams of a boy who calls himself Jack. 

In the beginning, Eric didn’t understand Jack, since he was speaking French, but when Eric told Jack he doesn’t understand French, Jack started speaking English to him. He has a Canadian accent. Eric has seen Canadians on TV. He knows things.

Eric doesn’t really understand it. Jack keeps showing up in his dreams. Jack is five years older than him, so he’s ten. 

“Are you my imaginary friend?” Eric asks Jack when he’s six. Jack’s been with him for over a year. He’s probably his best friend, but he’s also not real. After all, this is all a dream.

“Am I?” is Jack’s reply.

For years, Jack is Eric’s friend in his dreams. His dream friend, if you want to call it that. As Eric grows older, he doesn’t have many friends. Jack might not be real, but he feels real. He’s there for Eric to talk to when it gets hard at school. He’s there to talk about ice skating while Eric enthuses about figure skating. Sometimes, Jack tells Eric that he feels afraid of growing up and what will happen to him. Jack’s under pressure of something. Eric helps him and in return, Jack is there when the bullying gets worse.

He’s just there in his dreams.

Eric doesn’t tell anyone about Jack, not even his mama. His parents know that Eric doesn’t have many friends, so Eric doesn’t want to admit to them that the only true friend is made up. Sure, Jack might be in his dreams only, but he’s all that Eric has, and he doesn’t want his parents to freak out.

When Eric is twelve, the dreams start to change into nightmares. Jack is hurt a lot. Often, he seems like he’s not even there. His eyes are glossy and he keeps telling Eric that “he needs it to cope”. Eric never asks about “it”.

Eric feels responsible. Sure, Jack might not be real, but Eric made him up. Eric should be able to stop Jack’s suffering. But sometimes it feels like Jack is living a life outside of the dreams.

One day, when Eric is thirteen, he dreams that he’s stuck in a black hole and he wakes up screaming. For a week after that, Jack doesn’t show up. His parents are worried, since he’s in a bad mood, but he can’t tell them that his dream friend has disappeared.

Still, Eric keeps hoping for Jack to come back.

* * *

For Jack, it starts when he is ten years old. A little kid named Eric starts showing up in his dreams. 

In the beginning, Jack didn’t think about it. But this little kid kept showing up in his dreams, so Jack started talking to him in French and later in English, cause Eric apparently doesn’t speak French.

Even though Eric is a kid and in his mind, Jack likes talking to him. All the boys at school see him as the famous kid. Famous mom, famous dad. Jack feels mostly at ease when he’s on the ice.

Years pass and Eric keeps showing up in his dreams. Jack dreams about going to a café, and he’s there. Jack dreams about going to school, and he’s there. Jack dreams about going on a trip, and he’s there. Jack dreams about being an astronaut, and he’s there.

One day, Jack dreams about being on the ice, and Eric is there. He’s started figure skating. It’s not hockey, but Jack likes it. 

Jack is pretty sure that he made Eric up. How else can he explain watching a little kid grow up into a teen in his dreams? But even though Eric might be fake, he becomes a friend. Because Eric’s not real, he doesn’t know who Jack really is. To him, Jack is just Jack, a broody teen who likes hockey and history, and not Jack Zimmermann, _the son of_. Apart from Kenny, no one knows Jack.

Eric helps him calm down when things get stressful. Eric also has some things to deal with, since he gets bullied. Jack hates that he created someone who has to go through that, so he comforts Eric as well.

When Jack turns seventeen and he starts drinking to calm himself down, since his medication isn’t enough, all his dreams become hazy, including the ones involving Eric.

And when Jack wakes up in a hospital bed, he knows something is wrong. 

“Je t’aime,” his mother cries at his bedside.

He’s been out for a week. An overdose. His heart stopped beating for a while. He also hasn’t dreamed for a week, or so it feels. But one day, he’s dreaming that he’s walking down a street when suddenly, someone hits him from behind. 

Jack’s surprised to find Eric looking at him with tears in his eyes.

“Where have you been?” Eric yells frantically.

“Eric? What are you doing here?”

But Eric seems incredibly angry. “For a week I’ve been waiting for you, but you never showed up!” he yells, but then his face becomes worried: “What has happened, are you okay?”

“I’m not okay, but I will be.”

* * *

Leaving Madison wasn’t as hard as expected. Sure, Eric- no, Bitty, that’s what they call him now -was saddened to leave his parents behind, but he saw an opportunity to go to the gayest school in America and he took it.

Also, in his dreams, Jack goes to Samwell.

Ever since Jack came back to him when Bitty was 13, he’s been showing up in Bitty’s dreams again. Bitty never really found out what has happened to Jack, but Jack keeps assuring him that he’s doing fine. He’s started therapy. He went to rehab. It’s okay. A couple of years ago, Jack went to the dream version of Samwell. Sometimes, Bitty’s surprised by how detailed and real his made up friend has become.

He still hasn’t told anyone. He’s still afraid of what they will think. After all, Bitty has the feeling he is starting to like Jack as more of a friend, which is pretty alarming, cause that means Bitty’s in love with a dream.

In his dream, Jack is playing hockey at Samwell. Ever since figure skating didn’t work out, Bitty has been playing hockey and he now has a scholarship. Jack’s very happy for him.

Today, the junior Shitty (yes, Shitty) is walking with him to Faber. “Are you ready to meet the team, Bitty brah?”

“I guess,” Bitty says. He’s accidentally met Shitty on his first day when Shitty got stuck in a tree close to his dorm room and Bitty found out Shitty’s on the team as well. So Shitty promised Bitty to help him get settled. He gave Bitty his new nickname.

“Oh, wait till you meet our brooding captain. He’s my best friend, but he has the tendecy to be rude, so please forgive him for that.”

Shitty gives him a small tour of Faber and Bitty doesn’t want to tell him that he knows Faber already. Well, he’s dreamed of it.

The other teammates are already on the ice. “Bitty, m’dude, I’m going to go to Jack real quick, but Ransom and Holster will totally hang out with you.” Two other men nod happily.

Bitty meets Ransom and Holster and he’s very happy to talk to them. Ransom points at other players to kind of introduce them.

“…And that’s Johnson. He kinda has an ongoing existential crisis. You’ll get used to it,” Ransom says as he points towards the goalie, “And you’ve met Shitty. Next to him is our beloved captain, Jack.”

Ransom points towards the captain and Bitty almost faints.

* * *

“Shitty, where have you been?” Jack asks when he sees his best friend approaching.

“Jack, love of my life, I told you, I was giving a frog the Faber tour,” Shitty says happily, “How’s captain life?”

“Frustrating,” Jack sighs. The first day of the year is always a bit of a mess. He needs to meet the new frogs and he hates it. Most of them are in awe because wow, he’s  _the_  Jack Zimmermann. “Have you seen Pacer Wicks yet?”

“I think he’s talking with another frog. Ollie O’Meara?” Shitty says.

Jack crosses both of them off the list. They will propably come and introduce themselves. He still has to find two frogs, including Eric Bittle. He doesn’t know much about his frogs, but Eric Bittle reminds Jack of his own imaginary Eric. In fact, in his dream world, Eric will start attending Samwell this year with a hockey scholarship. Jack knows Eric isn’t real, but the feeling of pride is.

His therapist knows about Eric. After all, Jack learned to be open about things that might be connected to his mental illness. They haven’t found a link, but making up an entire person who becomes your best friend is something. His therapist said she understood it in some way, and that she also dreams of another woman every now and then, but Jack doesn’t think it’s the same.

Besides, Jack doesn’t want to tell his therapist that he is kind of in love with someone from his dreams. He is willing to admit a lot of things to her, but not that. That’s his secret.

Maybe this night, Jack will be able to tell Eric that someone with his name has joined the team as a frog. What a coincidence. First, Jack has to find Eric Bittle.

“And have you seen Eric Bittle?” Jack asks Shitty.

“Isn’t this supposed to be your job?” 

“Yes, but you’re better at socialising,” Jack says.

“True, and I have met Eric Bittle. I left him with Ransom and Holster. Wait, lemme see…” Shitty looks around and then he claps his hands. “There!”

Jack follows Shitty’s gaze and he almost drops his clipboard when he sees Eric Bittle.

Eric Bittle looks just like the Eric from his dreams.

* * *

“Uh, oh,” Bitty hears Holster say, “The captain is coming our way. Rans, what did you do?”

“Why am I the blame?” Ransom says.

But Bitty barely notices their playful bickering. Jack is here, on the ice, in reality, and judging by the stunned look on Jack’s face, he recognises him as well.

“Hey cap!” Holster does a mock salute, but Jack doesn’t acknowledge him. Instead he stops in front of Bitty.

“Am I awake?” he asks, ignoring the confused looks of Ransom and Holster.

“I think so,” Bitty says, also stunned. He pinches himself and it hurts. “So am I, apparently.”

“What are you doing here?” Jack asks.

“Well, I told you, I got a scholarship to Samwell. What are  _you_  doing here?”

“I’m the captain, you know that!” Jack shakes his head and Bitty looks around to see everyone staring. “You’re real?”

“I could say the same thing about you!” Bitty says.

“You’re you, right? You’re Eric. You like to bake. You were previously a figure skater. You’re from Madison and you’re gay. That’s you?” 

“This is sick,” Bitty says, not even caring that Jack casually outed Bitty, but the others seem fine with it, “This is insane. You’re not supposed to be real.”

Jack suddenly takes Bitty’s left hand. His eyes widen when he sees a small scar on Bitty’s hand. It was a burning incident when he was fifteen. Bitty knows that Jack knows that.

Jack throws his clipboard towards Shitty. “Shits, take over for me real quick! I need to talk to this frog.”

* * *

“You know the way to the locker room,” Jack says as he follows Eric. Or Bitty. Bitty’s told him that he’s already been given a hockey nickname and it suits him.

“You’ve showed me many times, remember?” Bitty says.

“This is real,” Jack says, “I am not dreaming. This is real. You are real.” Jack tries to wrap his head around this. For years, he’s convinced himself that he made Bitty up, but suddenly he’s here, and Bitty has the exact same thing. In Bitty’s mind, Jack is the one who’s made up. 

Well, until now. Now, they’re both standing in the same locker room and they’re both awake.

“Honey, I need to sit down,” Bitty says. He already has a place in the locker room, next to Chen-Stephens. “I thought I had made you up. I thought you were the figment of my imagination trying to cope with my loneliness. But you’re real. I am really glad that you’re real.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Jack sits down on Chen-Stephens’s spot. 

“What does this mean?” Bitty asks, “I am glad that you’re real, but then why did I dream about you for years. It’s been thirteen years, Jack. Oh lord, you’ve watched me grow up.”

“The same can be said about me,” Jack says, “You’ve also seen thirteen years of my life. I mean, assuming we dreamed the same dreams. Remember when we went to the zoo the first time? I think you were seven?”

Bitty laughs. “Is that the time you got stuck in the aviary?”

“You remember!” Jack says and he smiles at the, well, at the memory. Jack guesses they are memories now, since it happened. Sort of. This is really confusing.

They were obviously dreams, but they are now also their memories.

“Of course I do,” Bitty says, “I don’t remember much from the first years, since I was five, but that I do. Oh, remember when you dreamed we were in space? That was fun.”

“Yeah, I suppose that was my dream.”

They sit in comfortable silence. After knowing each other, they don’t need the formalities. But then Bitty turns to him. 

“Jack, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but now that you’re real, I can’t help but wonder what happened when you were eighteen.”

Jack looks away in shame. It’s stupid, since he knows that he can tell Bitty everything. He first came out to Bitty in Disney World when he was twenty-one. Bitty knows things not even Shitty knows.

“Uhm.” Then something else hits Jack. “You don’t know who I am?”

“You’re Jack?” Bitty is confused.

“No, you don’t know who I _am_? I am Jack Zimmermann? Son of Bob and Alicia Zimmermann. My father is Bad Bob?”

Bitty shakes his head.

At first, Jack thinks it’s weird that a hockey player doesn’t know his dad, but then he remembers that Bitty started playing hockey because Jack recommended it to him after Bitty had to quit figure skating. Bitty never really got into hockey outside of the sport.

Then, he feels relieved. Not only doesn't Bitty see him as the son of his parents, but Jack can tell him what happened. Bitty never read it in ESPN or whatever sports magazine. It’s always been like that. Nothing changed. Now Jack realises that Bitty never acted like Jack was supposed to be the son of his parents, not because Jack made Bitty that way, but because Bitty genuinely didn’t know.

“You know I use medication to help my anxiety?”

Bitty nods.

“I overdosed on them after taking too many of them while mixing it with alcohol,” Jack says and Bitty gasps in shock, “I’m okay now, but I flatlined and I was dead for a while. They revived me, obviously, but I was in a coma for a week. That’s why I wasn’t there.”

“Jack…”

“I am okay now, Eric,” Jack says, but Bitty still wraps his arms around him. Jack realises they have never hugged in their dreams.

It’s nice.

“I’m really glad you’re here.”

“So am I.”

“So, what happens now?” Bitty asks.

“Is anything supposed to happen?” Jack asks, “You’re real. You’re here. You’ve been my friend for thirteen years. Why would that change?”

* * *

Jack and Bitty hang out a lot, on and off the ice. To them, this isn’t new. After all, they’ve known each other for years, but to everyone else, it’s new.

“I’ve never seen Jack be so nice to a frog this early in the year,” Shitty had said.

Bitty knows things of Jack that no one else knows. Growing up together bonds you for life. They still see each other in their shared dreams, but they become less frequent. 

“It’s probably because we can now talk in ‘real life’ as well,” Bitty says.

“Probably,” Jack says, “Although it was very fun to go to Paris together, even if it was just a dream.”

Bitty smiles at the memory of their last dream. In their dream, they were in the city of love. Despite being completely honest with each other, Bitty doesn’t really know how to tell him that he’s in love. For years, Bitty didn’t think about it, because Jack wasn’t supposed to be real.

But he is. 

His entire freshman year, it hangs over them. He doesn’t know if Jack feels this way as well. Bitty knows that he is the only one who knows that Jack has been with a guy before, but that doesn’t automatically mean Jack wants to be with him.

Jack likes to chirp him a lot, and one day Ransom jokingly said that Jack was flirting with Bitty. Ever since, Bitty can’t stop thinking about how many of Jack’s chirps can be seen as flirting.

For almost fourteen years, Jack has been an amazing friend in his dream. Now, he’s also an amazing friend in real life. Jack likes joking around. Jack helps Bitty with his fear of checking, which Jack recalled since they’ve discussed it several times in their dreams. Jack is proud to say that he actually does some photography in real life. Jack loves his pies.

Can you blame Bitty for falling for him?

Bitty leaves his first year at Samwell without answers. In the summer, he’s back in Madison and he still sees Jack often in his dreams. Bitty must’ve been right that the reason their shared dreams became less frequent was because they now were able to talk ‘in real life’, because in Georgia, Jack showed up every night.

It feels good to finally talk to his parents about Jack, although Bitty still leaves out the dream part.

Sophmore year starts. Bitty is now an official resident of the Haus after Johnson gave him dibs to “put some canon compliant stuff in this soulmate au” or whatever that means. His mama is there to help him move in. Jack and Shitty are already in the Haus and Ransom and Holster are on their way.

His mama is putting his baking supplies in the kitchen. Bitty is carrying a box with clothes to his room. Then, he hears something.

“When are you finally going to make a move, Jack?”

* * *

“When are you finally going to make a move, Jack?” Shitty says as he falls down on Jack’s bed. Of course he’s naked, even though Mrs. Bittle is in the Haus.

“What do you mean?” Jack asks. He’s not really focusing on Shitty, since he’s just gotten back from Montreal and he’s unpacking.

“Dude, I know it’s pretty shit to assume sexualities or whatever, but you are kind of gay for Itty Bitty across the hall,” Shitty says.

“What?” Jack asks and he drops his folded clothes in shock.

“Jack, m’boy, forgive me for saying this, but I have the feeling you might be gay for our Southern baker and I know you can be pretty dense, so I don’t know if you’ve noticed.”

Jack picks up his clothes. “Bi. And yes, I have.”

Shitty blinks a couple of times. “Oh.” But then Shitty grins widely. “Jack, my best friend, that is amazing! You two would be such a nice couple.”

But Jack shakes his head. “Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” Shitty frowns, “You literally just came out to me -which is cool by the way I still love you with whole my heart- and you admitted to me that you like Bitty. Maybe the feeling is mutual?”

“Well, he’s never said anything,” Jack says. The two of them have always been open. Jack never said anything to Bitty, because Bitty never showed any interest anyway. “Besides, I’ve known him for years, Shits. What if I do tell him? What if he freaks out? What if I throw away fourteen years of friendship because feelings started complicating stuff? I liked him before, but now that he’s here, I love him. What if I mess up, Shits?”

Shitty whistles. “Wow. Love, huh?”

Jack turns red. “Oh, shush you.”

“Jack Laurent Zimmermann is in love,” Shitty says, “Never thought I’d see this day. I do have one question, Jackie boy. What do you mean you’ve known him for fourteen years?”

Jack freezes in shock. He didn’t mean to tell Shitty.

Jack turns around to face Shitty. Apart from Bitty, he is the most important person in the world. Jack trusts Shitty. 

He takes a deep breath. He can tell Shitty. At least, it feels that way, and if he’s gonna judge him, then Jack can hopefully handle that.

“I’m going to say something really weird, but you know, you are high most of the time so you might be okay with it.”

“Hit me up, my friend.”

“Eric and I have been sharing dreams for the past fourteen years. You can laugh at me now.”

“Why would I laugh at you?” Shitty asks, “Been there done that.”

“So you’re high?”

“You offend me, Jack Laurent,” Shitty says with an accusing voice, but Jack knows that he’s joking, “But nah, really. Lardo and I share dreams every now and then. And I once overheard Ransom and Holster talking how they met up in a dream? Idk brah. I thought I was hallucinating, but then Lards showed up at Samwell?”

That catches Jack’s attention. “You’ve been seeing Lardo in your dreams too?”

Shitty shrugs. “It started when I got to Samwell. At first I thought I’d smoked too much pot but she kept appearing. And suddenly, she’s the manager of my hockey team.”

Jack is still frozen in shock, but now it’s different. He was sure he was going insane, but then he met Bitty and he realised that he’s real. Now, they’re even more confused than before, but they’re in a weird state of acceptance. But Shitty has been dreaming about Lardo? Ransom and Holster have met each other in their dreams?

“What does this mean?”

Shitty shrugs again. He does that a lot when he’s not impressed. “Dude, I literally don’t fucking know, but all I know is that Lardo and I are together now. You can say that I met her at Faber, but in my eyes, I met her in her house after she ate too much homemade Vietnamese food.”

“I met Eric when I was ten,” Jack says, still remembering his first dream with Bitty, “I watched him grow up.”

“That’s probably why you’re the only one on the team who still calls him Eric instead of Bitty,” Shitty says, “Old habits never die, I guess. But you can at least try, y’know?”

“I don’t know, Shits,” Jack says, feeling uncertain.

“Jack, my friend, when you see him, what do you think?”

“That he’s the most wonderful person in the world.”

“I take offense by that,” Shitty jokes, but then he turns serious again, “Does Bitty know you like dudes as well?”

“I told him when I was twenty-one. We went to Disney World in our dream.”

“Supes jealous. I’ve always wanted to go to Disney World,” Shitty says, “That being said, go for it.”

But Jack shakes his head. “No, sorry Shits, but I can’t risk our friendship.”

Shitty sighs loudly. “This is so cliché, but I respect you,” Shitty says and he jumps off Jack’s bed, “Anyway, I’m gonna put on some pants and then we go downstairs to eat some pies. The season hasn’t started yet, dude, so now is the time.” 

“I’ll see you downstairs then,” Jack grumbles. He opens his door to go downstairs, because he also can’t say no to Bitty’s pies. Then he sees Bitty standing in the hallway, holding a carton box. Bitty also looks like a deer caught in headlights, so it doesn’t take Jack long to realise what has happened.

“H-How much did you hear?” Jack asks.

“Congrats on coming out to Shitty,” Bitty says, but he looks a bit guilty. If Bitty’s heard his casual coming out, then he surely must’ve heard all the other stuff.

Bitty puts the box down and he’s looking at Jack with a strange look on his face. Jack half expects Bitty to punch him or to walk away. What he doesn’t expect is Bitty running at him to kiss him.

At first, Jack’s a bit taken aback, especially when Bitty basically pushes Jack against the wall, but then he kisses back and it is amazing. 

They don’t notice how long they’re kissing, till they hear someone clear his throat. Shitty is finally wearing pants and he looks very surprised. When Jack and Bitty pull away, he starts to grin. “Congratulations and you’re welcome, dudes.”

“Thank you, Shitty,” Bitty says, still holding Jack.

“Yeah, Shits, thanks,” Jack says as well.

* * *

Again, no one really knows when it started. Suddenly, more people started talking about shared dreams. Some people have been dreaming of another person for years, others only for a small amount of time. Some see another person in all their dreams, others see them every week. Some dream of more people. Some dream of dogs.

It became well known. People realised that this was happening to everyone. 

Ransom and Holster admit that they’ve been talking to each other all their lives and they never bothered to figure it out. Lardo and Shitty confirm that they met each other in their dreams a year before they met in real life. Dex realised that Nursey didn’t show up in his dreams to turn it into a nightmare, but because their mutual teasing continued in their sleep before it changed to flirting. Ollie and Wicks only showed up in each other’s dreams in their Senior Year, after they’d been dating for a year. Tango and Whisky speak Spanish in their dreams, which they continued to do in real life. Chowder and Farmer have been seeing each others for years every once in two months and they kept appearing more regularly after they met at Samwell.

And Jack and Bitty have been watching each other grow up. They became each others best friend. They love each other.

Jack and Bitty have been married for five years when it becomes clear: a soulmate connection has appeared in this world.

Scientists and historians can’t really pinpoint a starting point, but Jack and Bitty are probably one of the first generation of people to have experienced this. So, no one knows where this connection came from, but Jack and Bitty remember watching the news update. Finally, they had an explanation.

“We’re soulmates,” Jack had said, stunned, but then a wide smile had appeared on his face.

“Sweetpea, I already knew that, no soulmate connection necessary,” Bitty had said back, “But I guess you truly are the man of my dreams.”

“You are the man of my dreams as well, love.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
